Pro overclocker bricks AMD's best gaming chip without really trying
Seems like it might be surprisingly easy to brick one of AMD's best gaming CPUs, even if you're a professional overclocking YouTuber. The world now has one less AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D(opens in new tab) after a slight voltage tweak above just 1.35V.
Roman Hartung, aka der8auer, recently took a trip to Taiwan to visit the Asus testing labs. There he decided to put some CPUs to the test but, as it turns out, even when it comes to enthusiast grade CPUs such as the latest X3D chip the old saying stands: Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
Actually, with AMD's finest gaming chip, it seems you really really shouldn't.
One of the great things about AMD's Ryzen 7000-series CPUs(opens in new tab), is that it's been made super easy to overclock in Windows using PBO 2 and Curve Optimizer. There still remains the option to overclock your chip in the BIOS, however, where you may be presented with the option to push the voltage all the way up to 2.5V. Eep.
So, alongside some other testing, Hartung set about pushing the voltages of a Ryzen 9 7950X3D Asus had lent him. Much to his dismay, all did not go to plan(opens in new tab) (via HardwareLuxx(opens in new tab)).
He first tested the waters by babystepping the voltage up to 1.35V. And while it was necessary to run and grab a liquid nitrogen cooler to keep it between 85°C and 90°C, Hartung still decided to push things further.
He saw the danger, and he did it anyway.
The moment the CPU hit 1.5V, everything went out the window. The motherboard threw up a 00 error code, and despite his best efforts, sadly it looked like nothing could be done to save the CPU.
It was clear the Ryzen 9 7950X3D had been fried even before the CPU came under load. And while Hartung himself admits it
Read more on pcgamer.com
